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Moods in Gal. 2:2

Posted: June 26th, 2011, 9:26 pm
by Charlie Johnson
ἀνέβην δὲ κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν• καὶ ἀνεθέμην αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ κηρύσσω ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, κατ᾽ ἰδίαν δὲ τοῖς δοκοῦσιν, μή πως εἰς κενὸν τρέχωἔδραμον.

I understand the shift in tense, but I'm wondering why Paul would shift from a subjunctive (τρέχω) to an indicative (ἔδραμον).

Also, since the indicative and subjunctive forms of τρέχω are identical, do we read it as subjunctive because that's what's required by the μή πως? If so, that leads back to my original question, why the subjunctive isn't retained.

Re: Moods in Gal. 2:2

Posted: June 26th, 2011, 10:23 pm
by Barry Hofstetter
Charlie Johnson wrote:ἀνέβην δὲ κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν• καὶ ἀνεθέμην αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὃ κηρύσσω ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, κατ᾽ ἰδίαν δὲ τοῖς δοκοῦσιν, μή πως εἰς κενὸν τρέχωἔδραμον.

I understand the shift in tense, but I'm wondering why Paul would shift from a subjunctive (τρέχω) to an indicative (ἔδραμον).

Also, since the indicative and subjunctive forms of τρέχω are identical, do we read it as subjunctive because that's what's required by the μή πως? If so, that leads back to my original question, why the subjunctive isn't retained.
Greetings, Charlie. This is not the only place Paul does it -- cf. 4:11 and 1 Thess 3:5. Lightfoot suggests, and I agree, that the change in mood is necessitated by the change in tense. The present subjunctive is used in τρέχω because the thought involves the consequences of possible future result from present action. The thought of the aorist tense in ἔδραμον involves the results of a past action that now cannot be changed.

Re: Moods in Gal. 2:2

Posted: June 27th, 2011, 1:03 am
by Charlie Johnson
I looked in Robertson's grammar, and finding it somewhat opaque, followed a citation to Goodwin's Syntax of the Moods and Tenses. There I found this:

Image

If what Goodwin describes here is what Paul is doing in the passage, would the meaning be something like this: "Lest I was running in vain, or had run in vain (but I had not in fact run in vain)"?

Re: Moods in Gal. 2:2

Posted: June 29th, 2011, 1:46 pm
by Charlie Johnson
I wouldn't mind some more feedback on this issue. Is Lightfoot's, Robertson's, or another solution preferable?